Jain Journal 1982 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 13

JAIN JOURNAL
This account proves that Lord Mahavira was not an atheist (nästika). He in the beginning of the Acāranga tells us that he believes in the existence of the souls, their transmigration, deeds and fruits and the theory of exertion or free will (āyāvādi, logavādi, kammavādi and kiriyāvādi). In the first part of Sutrakstanga a kiriyāvādi is said to be one who believes in the existence of souls, the influx, the misery, the stoppage and the annihilation of the karmas. The soul is said to be an independent entity and there is no annihilation of it with the destruction of the body. Fruition as well as free will are there and there is no incarnation (avatāravāda) of any soul which has once attained the emancipation. There is criticism of agnosticism (ajñanavāda), fatalism (niyativāda), momentariness (kşaņikavāda) and those who believe in the God as a creator (isvaravāda) and the world as delusion (māyāvāda).
Some types of celestial beings are mentioned in the first part of Sutrakrtanga but the four-fold classification of celestial beings is not there. However, the three fold division of the universe has clear cut mention in it. Topics that are discussed in the later Agamic books are : denizens of the netherland (nārakt), classification of living beings according to the number of their senses, details regarding intuition, knowledge, psychic faculty and passions, various kinds of bondage, minute details of the karma, various kinds of penances, position and condition of the liberated souls, mythology of sixtythree illustrious personages, geography, cosmology, etc. Logical discussions are seldom found in the Agamas. Verbal authority (apta-vacana) is predominant. The whole system of dialectics is a later development during the period of systematisation of philosophical principles (darśanika-yuga).
Reference Books :
Jain Darsan-ka Adikāl : Dalsukh Malvania. Outlines of Jaina Philosophy : M. L. Mehta.